General Question

Why do we start disliking something once it hits the mainstream?

Especially bands/singers or fashion. Does this make me a pretentious hipster? Possessive? Shallow? Hungry? (no, that’s something else..)
I just get so sad when my discoveries hit the big time, when I should be happy for the musician(s) and their new audience.

20 Answers

The times I remember starting to dislike something as it became mainstream was because I didn’t want to be roped in with the people that suddenly began ‘liking’ it because it was the ‘in’ thing. It’s tough to explain, but everyone will do it.

It seems a lot of the time when bands/singers get really popular they tend to change. They start conforming to that one thing that made them popular and try to appeal more and more to the mainstream instead of keeping their roots of just making great original music. So thats why i tend to like bands a lot less when they get big.

I think what it really is with most stuff though is when something isnt really popular those who know about it, really like know about it and tend to be quite into whatever “it” is. But then when it gets really popular and mainstream people who didnt really know about “it” start claiming to like it, but bastardize it along the way. They change the original meaning of whatever “it” was.that made no sense im sure… lol i dont really know how to explain.

No bands ive followed long enough before they werent popular lol. Dave Matthews is a good example though. I mean i dont really think he sold out or anything and is a great musician. I always catch flak though for saying i like him because of the people who are associated with liking him. It is a shame when you see mainstreamness (yay new word) hurt music too because a lot of people tend to shut stuff out just because its popular and the people who like it.

I think its one of two things. We either get this feeling of “Hey! That was my little secret!” or “I have heard this song 15 times today! Spare me!” We revert back to our kindergarten days of struggling with the “share” concept or we are subjected to hours of nonstop polluted airways of the same thing over and over again. For instance, I love Ray LaMontagne. He has a song out called You’re the Best Thing and I hear it soooo much that I actually change the channel now and i took it off my zune because i felt like i was being smacked over the head with it. plus i find that a lot of bands let that stuff go to their heads and lose who they really were. some underground music is amazing when they first start and it eventually dies, like say for instance O.A.R.. I feel their music took a dive after they had a few hit songs. or the band will sell out like Jewel did when she made her 0304 album. She went from folksie, inspiring, though provoking to pop-ish, near techno. its sad really

I think @Jack_Haas is on the right track. Many people want to conform to the degree that they fit in, but don’t necessarily fill the mold. They can associate with a group or trend, but not necessarily define themselves by it. They still want to maintain enough individuality that they stand out as somewhat independent with a mind of their own. Blindly following something or someone makes up appear weak.

Certain trends such as music and clothing can define a group. For example I remember when punk came on the scene; it wasn’t hard to spot a rabid follower. Perhaps it’s the mass association factor we abhor, or maybe it’s the clique-ishness of it all. Those things, plus the plain & simple overkill.

@bright_eyes00 I make a point of NOT listening to music on the radio (go NPR), so whatever is on my Ipod is mine alone.

I have no real idea what anyone else is listening to or what they like. My biggest clue comes from who is in town for concerts but, being somewhat agoraphobic, I don’t go to them.

I discovered this great band from the Netherlands (Blof) who are very popular in Europe (and may also be here, I don’t know). As with other bands or singles, my interaction with them is solely mine alone.

I guess the only downside is when anything happens to degrade the quality of the music (members in rehab, selling out to the record companies, etc.). I know the quality has changed, I don’t necessarily need to know why. (And I can still enjoy the fruits of their labors created before they jumped the shark).

because the media kills talent. The best music (in my opinion) is music written from the heart, not by what sells. A personal example: I write fiction, and I write what pleases me, if I was to become a published author, that would change what I write about. I would be writing for an audience, instead of for myself.

It’s better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self.

ahhh.. the tipping point of anything—of bands, fashion and etc. it could be because of people tend to be emotionally possessive of things or even things that are abstract (identity, uniqueness etc). so when other people begin to like or have the things that you are “possessive” of, you lose that intimate claim of such things.

Everyone wants so badly to be unique regarding how they dress, what they listen to, even in what they eat. The problem with that thinking is that in a world of consumerism, you will never be unique when it comes to your consumption of mass produced goods.

What is truly unique these days is to like what you like without caring what everyone thinks about your personal choices.

I think we want to feel like we have found something special and knowing it is relatively undiscovered makes us feel like we’re part of the cool crowd.

Once it hits mainstream we’re no longer one of the few in the know and it kind of pisses us off. The thing is, if we really like it (or them, if it is a band) we should be happy for them because they have achieved their dream.

because overplay kills everything. more people start to like it, so that increases the chance of people we don’t like liking it. it doesn’t feel ‘special’ anymore.
also – especially in the case of bands – hitting mainstream means more money, and a lot of bands stop caring as much about being creative, and just do what will get radio play. and they inevitably stop interacting with their fans as much at this point (which they can’t be blamed for, as having half the world wanting a reply on myspace is kind of impossible).